334 THE RURAL EFFICIENCY GUIDE STOCK 



amination are found to be filled with gas and foul smelling fluid but very little 

 food. The bird becomes sluggish, the feathers rough and the comb dull in 

 color. 



Treatment. Empty the crop by holding the head downward and carefully 

 pressing the contents out through the mouth. Giving one-tenth grain tablet of 

 bichloride of mercury dissolved in one quart of drinking water. Weed soft, 

 easily digested food. 



Catarrh of Stomach (Gastritis). 



Enlargement or swelling of the food passage near the gizzard. It is sel- 

 dom met with except in connection with catarrh or inflammation of the crop. It 

 may be caused by overfeeding, eating decomposed food or other poisonous 

 matter. 



Symptoms. Lack of appetite, bowel trouble, diarrhea one day and con- 

 stipation the next, some fever and general weakness. 



Treatment. Do not feed irritating food. Omit from mash all bran and 

 mix with clover tea. Add one-tenth of a grain of arsenite of copper to each 

 pint of drinking water. 



The irritation may be allayed by a little rice boiled in the drinking 

 water. 



Chicken Pox or Sore Head. 



Chicken pox is strictly a contagious disease. It may be introduced by 

 an infected bird; by lice or other insect pests. 



Symptoms. Small, scabby, wart-like growth varying in size from a mil- 

 let seed to that of a pea, on the comb, wattles and ear lobes. 



Treatment. Mild cases of this disease may be successfully treated by 

 local applications. Isolate affected fowls. 



Apply tincture of iodine after removing the scabs. Or creolin 2 percent 

 solution may be used instead of the iodine. 



Apply a solution of boric acid to the affected parts. Some prefer carbolated 

 oil to watery solutions. If there is inflammation of the eyes, the boric acid 

 solution may be used as a wash. 



Bathe head and eyes with equal parts water and witch hazel. 



For the eruption there is nothing better than common vaseline. Feed 

 a mash of one-third clover mixed with boiling milk. Avoid exposure to cold 

 and wet. 



Cholera. 



Cholera of poultry is a virulent, usually fatal, contagious disease. Many 

 simple ailments of poultry are accompanied by diarrhea, but the poultrymen 

 should bear in mind that a troublesome diarrhea is not always cholera. 



Cholera is caused by infection, brought on usually by food or drink which 

 has been infected by the discharges of diseased fowls. The germs often gain 

 entrance to the body by inhaling the dust in coops which have not been 

 properly disinfected or by eating the flesh of fowls which have died of the 

 disease. 



